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Prabowo to build 10 metaverse cities worth Rp 125 trillion, Budiman Sudjatmiko says
Presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto plans to build 10 metaverse cities spread across Indonesia should he win his presidential bid in the upcoming election, according to Budiman Sudjatmiko.
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Indonesia's defense minister and presidential candidate, Prabowo Subianto, along with his running mate, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is the eldest son of Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Surakarta mayor, gesture as they arrive to register themselves for next year's presidential election, at the General Elections Commission (KPU) headquarters in Jakarta on Oct. 25, 2023. (Reuters/Willy Kurniawan)
Presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto plans to build 10 metaverse cities if he wins his presidential bid in the 2024 general election, according to Prabowo-Gibran campaign team spokesman Budiman Sudjatmiko.
“Nine cities just like nine planets with the sun represented by the IKN [Nusantara capital city] that acts as the superhub of the digital ecosystem. This can happen. [We] have the people [to build it],” said Budiman, as quoted by tempo.co.
The former member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said the 10 metaverse cities including Nusantara would be spread out across Indonesia. Nusantara, as the superhub, is currently being constructed in Kalimantan, while two cities in Sumatra will develop chips, nanotechnology, the Internet of Things (IoT) and sensors.
Three cities in Java will become centers of artificial intelligence (AI), computed technology, mobile devices, virtual reality/augmented reality, robotics and autonomous vehicles.
Human-computer interface and social media industries will be built in Bali while Sulawesi will develop biotechnology and agricultural industries. Lastly, Maluku will hold a city dedicated to the energy storage industry and Papua will develop a satellite and connectivity industry.
The total investment to build the digital ecosystem for a complete metaverse city would be up to Rp 125 trillion (US$8.6 billion), Budiman said as quoted by liputan6.com.
He added that a simple innovation would have an estimated budget of Rp 15 trillion. Such cities will provide five significant indicators of a developed country, in which the country has industries focusing on semiconductors, energy storage, AI and quantum, biotechnology and nanotechnology.
